The Darker Heart
by hbrackett
Summary: Mark faces danger every day, leaving Vex consumed with fear at losing him. He embarks on a quest to find an artifact that will keep his lover safe forever, but in this quest, even winning through has its risks. Can Vex protect his one true love without falling victim to his darker nature and alienating Mark forever? Set post Season 5. Minor appearances of other characters. !Vark
Vex was roaring drunk. He loved liquor, and he loved drinking it any time of day or night, no matter the occasion. He wasn't often drunk anymore; he had precious little reason to blot out the world before him, not like the old days. _Now_ the world had a place for him, and had actually done something to make up for the shit-show of his humble beginnings; it had given him Mark.

His redemption had started before Mark arrived, though it was a slippery road and backslides were common…but his footing had definitely firmed up since then. He _had_ to stay on the straight and narrow, or risk losing the one thing that had ever given his life meaning.

Except now Mark was away for a week on a massive sting operation that could cripple the drug trade in this part of the country for good (at least until the power vacuum was filled by someone else). Mark was _out there_ , on the front line, _alone_ , and he wouldn't be able to just call for a rescue like before, not that he would. Mark's stubborn streak was becoming legendary like that of his father's before him. Why couldn't he have been a bloody accountant or a male stripper or something just ever so slightly less dangerous? And if that call came, if there were some voice telling him that they were very sorry but Mark was gone and there was nothing they could do…

Vex shuddered. He knew what he was, what he was capable of. The world would face with a Mesmer whose rage was without end. His new friends would quickly become enemies once more, giving each other knowing looks as they put him down:

'It was only a matter of time, he's Vex after all.'

'I'm amazed he lasted this long!'

'I never really like him anyway. Who wears heels that high?'

Dyson would understand, and that was a comforting thought, but Dyson would likely blame Vex for his son's death; surely it _must_ be his fault, everything goes to shit when Vex is around…

He poured and drank another double. He needed to talk to someone.

What about his friends? Bo and Lauren were in Greece, searching for the physical entrance to the Underworld so they could seal it forever. Kenzi was in Spain with her Valkyrette foster daughter. Trick was gone, Evony, the old Morrigan, had vanished…that left Dyson. Never on good speaking terms before, that would be the prickliest of conversations with the legendary werewolf. He still remembered that day, shortly after Hades had been vanquished when he'd caught the two, holding hands behind the mobile home, their relationship moments old…and Dyson coming for him as if they had not just risked their lives together, had not just _saved the world_ together.

To his credit, Dyson used fists instead of claws, his rage entirely human. They tried to stop him, tried to pull him off, but Dyson was determined to pummel the last Mesmer into oblivion. Only when a 200 pound panther had knocked him aside did he cease, staring up at his son in wonder.

"You can't! Mark, I forbid it! I'll see him dead first!" Dyson was red-faced with fury, everyone else just standing there pale and shocked as the thrill of their impossible victory soured and died away. Even Dagny, safe in Kenzi's arms, was staring at them in wide-eyed wonder.

Mark shifted back amid the shreds of his clothing. Like most shifters, he cared not a whit about modesty, though the girls turned away blushing furiously.

"Dad, it's too late. I love him. You know what that means to our kind."

Dyson looked horror-struck. "He…isn't…worthy of you!"

"It's not your decision to make, and your judgment isn't all that great anyway. Vex was a hero today." Mark's gaze was steady. Dyson had never seen him look so sure of himself, not even when he disobeyed orders and invited the Elder Dark Fae to the Consilium.

"He changes sides the moment it becomes convenient to do so! He…"

"He struggles with his nature just like the rest of us." Mark glanced meaningfully at Bo, who blushed again. She had drained the life force of everyone in the world under the influence of her darker half just a short time ago, after all. "You love Bo, and I do too…but like Tamsin said, we have evil in us as well as good, none of us is beyond that…not Bo, not Vex, not me and not you either! It takes good people in our lives to keep us from the darkness, and I want to be there for Vex. I'm not changing my mind. Dad, he could have stopped you! He could have made you slit your own throat instead of letting you beat the shit out of him! Do you know why he didn't? Do you know why he spared your life? Because he knows you're my father and that I love you. He wouldn't hurt someone that I care about. Now if you want me to keep on being in your life, then you need to do the same. And believe me when I say that _I will not hold him back_ _next time_."

Mark walked over to Vex and gently pulled him to his feet. He looked terrible, both eyes swollen shut, blood pouring from his nose and mouth and ears, his whole face puffy and bruised. Together, they walked into the mobile home, and none were surprised when the engine started up and it drove slowly off, leaving them behind. Dyson stared after them, then turned and walked into the woods without looking back. The rest wisely decided to give him whatever time he needed, and to begin planning for the future.

Mark nursed him back to health, and the shrunken blackened pebble that was the heart of Vex grew three times larger seeing that handsome face looking at him with more concern and love than Vex ever thought possible. He healed fast, as all Fae do, and in a week all signs of the beating were gone. Mark had some long private talks with his father, and Vex had no idea what was said, but the next time he met the shifter-turned-bartender, Dyson smiled at him and offered his hand.

The smile was only slightly forced, and the grip was only slightly excruciating.

It was shortly after that when Mark took the police officer's test and was suddenly decked out in the night-blue uniform, carrying an array of weapons and restraints. Although this made for some intense sexual role-play, it still filled him with foreboding to see Mark wearing it. Thoughts of Hale were always on his mind, the detective's death brought about by Massimo, a boy Vex himself had raised…and he worried the Fates might feel he owed a Karmic debt for his role in all of that.

 _'Please, no…do whatever you want to me, Goddess knows I deserve Tartarus, but please spare him…'_

It wasn't a prayer, exactly. Vex was afraid to pray, since most of the gods were douchenozzles anyway, and he wouldn't want to send them intel about his personal Achilles Heel lest they make his fears a reality. It was just a thought he put out there, into the world.

And if the world betrayed him as before when it took his family and made Vex its bitch? Well, if he had learned nothing else from his adventures in the last five years, it was that it was quite possible to return the favor.

The empty glass shattered in his hand.

{}{}{}{}

Mark called him every night and finally returned home a few days later. A moment after he stepped in the door, Vex had his arms around him in a crushing grip. Mark hugged him back, inhaling his scent and kissing the spot on his neck that drove Vex wild.

"Honey, I'm home…" Mark whispered in his ear.

""You're not home yet, but you soon will be once I get this bloody costume off and you on top of me."

Mark laughed, but then frowned when he realized Vex was trembling.

"Babe? What's the matter? Your heart rate's through the roof and your scent is off…and you're shaking."

Vex shook his head, a forced smile on his face. "Nothing, love. Just a tad worried is all. Never been gone this long, have you? You had poor old Vex worried, you did."

Mark immediately looked guilty.

"Shit. I'm sorry, maybe I should have tried something else…"

"No! Not at all, you want to follow in Big Daddy's footsteps, you go right ahead and do it. I'm not here to hold you back. I never want you to look at me and see someone that kept you from your path."

"And I don't want to be the one that sends you off the deep end if anything happens to me. Vex, if the worst happens…you have to move on. Don't let.."

Vex cut the words off with another kiss. "Now remember, Rule #1, that subject is strictly forbidden. Anything happens, there will be no stopping me hunting the responsible party to the end of the earth and beyond."

Mark nodded. "I get that. I would do the same for you. Somebody hurts us, we make them pay…just don't take it out on anyone else, okay?"

Vex nodded. But he knew better than anyone else how easily such promises could be broken.

They took a long hot shower, Vex's hands tied above him (the house had all sorts of special modifications like that in every room) to the tune of a 'Coach & Quarterback' roleplay, with Mark going the 'extra mile' to get on the first string. Vex would get his turn later, tying up the naughty high school student who'd forgotten to hand in a paper to his strict history teacher. They had dozens of such games, complete with all the props and toys one could possibly need.

At last, too exhausted to do more than lay on the bed, Mark's head on his chest and most likely asleep, Vex basked in the peace of his lover's presence, safe from the wicked world outside. "It was so much easier before you, love," he whispered aloud. "When I had nothing, there was nothing to lose. Now I have everything, and I am always afraid."

This would not do, not at all. But what could he do about it? There were ways, to be sure. Ways to protect Mark and what they had, each with a bigger price tag than the last. Fae never did favors, they only struck bargains that often left one wishing they hadn't bothered. Mark would never want him to indebt himself to a malicious Fae that would only bring them grief.

An item of power? Those too could be deadly if misused. Most of the powerful artifacts were cached away in the vaults of the Light or the Dark under dread protections. True, Vex was one of the more powerful Fae breeds, but he was not invincible; stealing them would be dicey. Also, as the last of his kind, he ought to…

His kind, the tribe of Mesmer.

There was a fragment of a tale, a story he'd once heard from his father, Clust…a crystal pendant crafted specifically for the Mesmers. It bestowed the power of a Mesmer on any Fae or human who wore it, which by itself made it one of the most sought after artifacts. But in the hands of one of the actual tribe…it magnified that one's power a thousand fold. A single Mesmer with the pendant could control vast armies at once, without any hope of resistance. It had vanished after the Fae wars, and none had been able to find even a trace of its existence. Many thought it destroyed.

Vex flicked his eyes over to the mantel where the Compass of Nirad rested in a magically burglar-proofed box. Trick had left it for him, a benevolent tool that could point to anything the heart desired, but only if that desire was unselfish, for the benefit of others.

Vex had no desire to conquer, only to protect someone he loved. The compass would function for him, it had to. He would find the Mesmer's Crystal, and after that no one would ever threaten the one he loved again.

Of course, he could tell no one about this. Everyone would assume he wanted the artifact for the very worst reasons. They might even move to stop him, and he couldn't allow that. No, this would have to be a solo mission, just the way he liked it.

Vex let himself sleep then, a small smile on his face. At last he had a plan, and not even the Una Mens (rest their little blond heads) would be able to stop the last Mesmer from coming into his own.

{}{}{}{}

Dagny's sweet sixteen party was in full swing, and the whole gang was there.

"Guncles!" screamed the teenage Valkyrie, giving each of them a tight hug and kiss on the cheek.

She ushered them inside, squealing over Mark's Viking Warrior outfit (used for less than wholesome purposes one memorable evening two weeks prior) complete with hammer. Vex himself was dressed in an emerald green slinky snake costume.

"Let me guess, you are supposed to be Jormungandr, from that story where Thor ties you up and uses his huge hammer to pound the life out of you!" Dagny was paying attention to the old legends.

Mark blushed, and several of the other party-goers, knowing Vex's taste all too well, groaned in horror.

Vex winked at her and gave her the cheekiest of smiles. "Yes, your Uncle Mark really knows how to put his hammer to good use!"

Dagny squealed. "You two are so ADORABLE! Come on, I want you to meet my new friends."

The couple was dragged to the parlor.

Bo & Lauren were slow dancing, Dyson staring at them with that stupid wistful repressed longing he always had on his face. It was a mystery why all three just didn't all shag together and be done with it. Kenzi was there with some scruffy musician she'd known as a child, given the brushoff to so she could date Hale, and managed to reconnect with again long after his death. It was like she and Bo kept their romantic partners on rotation or something.

Mark elbowed him in the ribs. "Stop. You have that mean judgmental face on again."

Vex chuckled. "You know me so well! I just don't get it…if you know who the love of your life is, just stick with them instead of torturing everyone."

"Not everybody can be as lucky as we are."

Dagny introduced them to a whole clique of Valkyrettes from the new school, Vex forgetting the complicated Norse names almost as soon as he heard them. They asked a million embarrassing questions, for Mark anyway; Vex was most definitely an over-sharer.

In the middle of describing an amusing scene where Mark's fellow police officers burst into an old warehouse to find Vex naked and tied to a chair, a fake 'bomb' ticking away strapped to his bare chest, and Mark on his knees attempting to 'rescue' him before becoming distracted by Little Vex and trying to blow him before they blew up.

Mark was beet red, but laughing while the girls screamed and Dyson looked like he was going to vomit.

Dagny loved the present they got for her, a bracelet imbued with a minor charm that insured one always had fresh breath when kissing.

"Oooh, if you find another one, please let me have it!" begged Brunhilde, Dagny's current squeeze. Vex promised to have one delivered, looking around when he noticed that Mark was no longer by his side. He felt a brief moment of panic before spotting father and son off to the side talking in earnest whispers. Vex wished he had Mark's hearing, although he knew what they were likely talking about. Dyson always took his son aside and asked how Vex was treating him, with Mark reassuring him that things were perfect. Vex tried not to be offended at the surprised look Dyson would have each time.

He left the girls and stepped outside for a smoke. No drinks here since the girls were under age. No one said he couldn't have a left-handed cigarette though.

As the scent of cannabis wafted pleasantly in the cold air, Vex leaned against the wall and considered his thought from the night before. Mark was due to leave in a week for another assignment, his superiors impressed with how he handled the sting operation. With the Compass of Nirad's help, Vex should be able to find the Mesmer's Crystal before he got back.

"Going on a journey, are you? Well, pleasant travels to you," came a voice out of the darkness.

Vex peered into the gloom and spotted a shortish man just around the corner of the house. He wore a cap much like one of the Redcaps, but this one was dyed black. A Powrie. Vex cursed. The Powrie were middling telepaths, able to read minds when one's thoughts were unguarded. Vex raised his mental shields at once. Had the Powrie picked up his thoughts about the Crystal?

"Yes, thought I might do a bit of traveling. For fun, you know. Maybe Amsterdam."

Vex dropped his shields long enough to drive the image of the most depraved perverse orgy he could imagine directly into the Powrie's mind. The little man's face froze in shock as he caught the thought.

"Disgusting! You ought to be locked up! You're indecent!" The Powrie stalked off as soon as it finished shouting.

Vex chuckled. 'Pry into _my_ thoughts? More horrors in there than in Pandora's Box, mate.' Still, it left him uneasy. He wanted to track the Powrie down, take control and force him to confess everything he might have heard. His hands were itching with the power, but he forced it down. The Powrie didn't hear anything important. He couldn't have. The secret was still safe.

{}{}{}{}

After the party, Mark drove them home while Amy Stroup's 'Dark Runs Out' played on a continuous loop, Mark's favorite song. Vex liked livelier tunes, but if it made Mark happy, it made Vex happy. When not shifting gears, Mark would twine fingers with Vex, causing that bubble-about-to-burst feeling in Vex's chest. Gods, how could he be this lucky? As if reading his thoughts, Mark gave him a smile that could have been classified as a weapon.

"Fun party," was all he said.

"Not as fun as the one waiting for us at home, sweet one."

Mark shook his head, his smile becoming rueful. "Still not tired of me yet? All your experience, I must seem a fumbling virgin to you."

"I saw to your virginity some time ago, and I have all of eternity to teach you not to fumble, so no worries," Vex teased.

"Seriously though…I mean, do I even rank with you?" Mark actually looked a little worried.

Vex waited until they were at a stoplight, then turned Mark's face to him. "You, my boy, are quite frankly the greatest lover I've ever had. I am spoiled for all others. I would trade them all for you, and only wish that I'd met you when I was as fresh as you were when you met me."

Mark blushed, and drove on as the light turned green.

"I'm not that fresh. But…you were the first…" he stopped.

"What? First bloke you've ever been with?" Vex had suspected something like that. Mark had only talked about female conquests before they got together. But Mark shook his head.

"No. Not the first. But you were the first that didn't…nevermind."

Vex stared at him. "The first that didn't what?" He was utterly confused for a moment. Then a terrible, black thought took root in his brain.

Mark pulled over. They were still about ten minutes from home, but he sat there behind the wheel, looking straight ahead, tears pouring down his face.

Time seemed to have frozen. Vex had no idea how long they sat there.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Vex finally whispered through the pinhole his throat had become.

"Dammit, Vex…no one knows. My Dad doesn't know. I mean, I was on the streets, I couldn't shift yet, didn't even know I was Fae. I…you run into bad people."

Vex was struggling to keep control of himself. The monster was back, filling his mind and body, itching for him to make people into the dolls they were, wanting to laugh as he made them destroy what they loved before blinding themselves and hurling themselves into fires or off of mountains. Make them hang themselves, drown themselves, castrate themselves…

Mark was breaking next to him, he couldn't catch his breath, the wracking sobs making him shake and shudder in his seat. Vex was out of the car in a moment and over to the driver's side, pulling Mark out of the vehicle and crushing him in a hug while the young shifter clutched him frantically and buried his face in partner's comforting scent.

A couple of hoods across the street were looking at them and catcalling. Mark and Vex were still in costume after all. The thugs seemed to be deciding whether the two were easy prey.

'Oh no boys, not tonight you don't. I won't be responsible for the state of your twisted bodies when I'm through with you,' thought Vex to himself.

Upon discussion, the toughs just flipped them off and kept going. Lucky for them.

{}{}{}{}

Vex drove them home, getting Mark undressed and into bed, before bringing him a hot cup of Fae mead that would send the shifter into dreamless sleep.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to go to pieces like that. It just came out of nowhere, it was years ago…I should have been honest with you."

"I'm glad you told me. I can't imagine how hard it must have been." Vex gave him the cup and insisted he drink.

"Please…please don't look at me different… like I'm spoiled goods or anything…I couldn't stand it."

Vex gave him a stunned look. "Are you daft? You're my perfect angel, you always will be, you know that."

Mark snickered derisively.

Another troubling thought was worming through Vex's mind. "Love, the things we do…you know…with the safewords and all…you know that's not…"

Mark nearly jumped out of the bed. "No! No, there is no comparison!" Mark sighed, rubbing his face. "Vex, what happened wasn't a scene, I was attacked. It…there aren't words. I don't even know who it was. He was tall, strong. He'd gotten a few of the guys I was on the street with, and the police didn't give a shit, they never caught him. That's why…"

Mark shut up. It seemed his career choice wasn't all about his father after all.

"Vex, I had a…wild side long before all that happened. I don't have any confusion about what is and isn't…consensual. You are the love of my life and I wouldn't change a single thing about us. I wouldn't be with you unless I trusted you completely."

Mark was dropping off to sleep. The powerful mead was doing its work. Mark would be asleep until noon, unless Vex missed his guess. He believed Mark when he said that his sexual tastes were naturally wild, but it bothered Vex that Mark had once been taken by force, and chosen as his mate a man who had done nothing but use force on people to do far worse things. Vex swore an oath then. He would never use his power on an innocent again, no matter what the future held.

But that left one little matter to take care of.

Vex fetched the Compass of Nirad and left the house, making sure all the alarm systems and locks were engaged. He got in the McLaren and set the compass on the dash where the GPS usually sat.

"Point the way to the one who hurt the man I love," he intoned. Would the compass help him? Was this selfish revenge or unselfish justice?

The needle didn't move. That answered that question.

"Come on, you. If I don't stop him, he'll do it to someone else. They have to be protected as well. I mean it."

The Compass glowed crimson, and the needle spun around. Vex put the car in gear and drove.

It took four hours to get to the proper city, and another hour to find the proper neighborhood. The house was small and non-descript. You could walk past it every day and it would never stick in your memory. That was probably intentional. He walked around the back. The yard was over grown. A rusty tricycle leaned against a tree; there was a trace of blood on it. A small SpongeBob toy, bleached white by the sun, looked blindly at him from under a covered barbecue grill. The vibe was bad here. This was definitely the right place.

Vex made half-circuits of the house, noting that the needle unerringly pointed towards it. Very well then.

He forced the back door quietly. The house was neat and clean, if devoid of personality. There were no pictures or photos anywhere. A briefcase sat on the kitchen table, awaiting its owner's next trip to work. Vex climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The man was in the second bedroom, asleep. No one else seemed to be in the home. Vex stepped quietly into the room and sat at the nearby desk looking at the man dispassionately. He seemed like any other human to Vex. That was probably the key to his avoiding capture.

Vex whispered aloud his favorite passage from his favorite play.

"If we shadows have offended/Think but this, and all is mended/That you have but slumber'd here/While these visions did appear/And this weak and idle theme/No more yielding but a dream/Gentles, do not reprehend/if you pardon, we will mend/And, as I am an honest Puck/If we have unearned luck/Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue/We will make amends ere long/Else the Puck a liar call/So, good night unto you all/Give me your hands, if we be friends/And Robin shall restore amends."

Vex raised his hands. He waited for a sign. The man snorted in his sleep, murmured something unintelligible. He smiled at something in a dream. It was time. Vex would not suffer this man to be happy in his presence.

"Give me your hands if we be friends!"

He raised his hands, clamping one hand over his nose and mouth, while the other took firm hold of his groin. The man came awake at once as he mimed Vex against his will, but with far more force, screaming through the suffocating pressure. Down below, his hand savagely clutched its prize, slowly increasing the pressure, slowly…slowly…

There was a moist popping sound and a final anguished scream before the man became still. Vex remained in position for a minute more, just to make sure. Then he took some aerosol cans from the bathroom, placed them in the microwave in the kitchen and set it to maximum power. After extinguishing the pilot lights on the stove, he turned on all the burners and left the house before returning to the car for the trip home. By the time he heard the explosion, he was already on the highway and headed home.

The next morning, he made Mark breakfast in bed, and they spent the afternoon catching up on their favorite Netflix shows.


End file.
